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Salt calculators · Brine

Salt brine calculator

How much salt and water to make a batch of brine at any strength, with its specific gravity and freezing point, from standard tables.

Example values are filled in. Replace them with your own.

How it's calculated

The finished brine's mass = volume × density, where density at your strength comes from the CRC Handbook table (20 °C) by straight-line interpolation. Salt = brine mass × strength; water = the rest. Above 22% the table stops, so density is extended along the 20–22% trend and marked “≈”.

23.3% is the eutectic point: the strongest salt brine for winter use, freezing at about −21.1 °C (−6 °F). Freezing points are from the same table.

Note: Figures assume pure, dry sodium chloride. Road salt contains some moisture and insoluble grit, so real batches need a little more salt; confirm the strength with a salt hydrometer before use.

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Cite this page

For school projects and reports. Teachers often prefer the original sources too: see the list below.

The Salt Almanac. (2026, November 8). Salt brine calculator. https://saltalmanac.com/tools/brine-calculator

Original sources

  1. Wikipedia. Sodium chloride (data page): properties of water–NaCl mixtures at 20 °C, from the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 86th ed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_chloride_(data_page)
  2. Wikipedia. Brine (eutectic point of NaCl brine). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brine
  3. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. How salt works and overview of deicing chemicals. https://stormwater.pca.state.mn.us/How_salt_works_and_overview_of_deicing_chemicals